Tag: Extinction Rebellion

London Jury Acquits Three Extinction Rebellion Activists

Three Extinction Rebellion activists who disrupted a London train during rush hour were acquitted by a jury Friday.

The three defendants, who said they were motivated by their Christian faith, did not deny their actions. Instead, they argued that their protest was lawful under the Human Rights Act.

”When a jury hears the truth about the escalating climate crisis, with the depth and seriousness they won’t get from the government or the media, they understand the urgent need to act,” Extinction Rebellion’s Zoë Blackler said in a statement emailed to EcoWatch. “The real criminals here aren’t 3 committed Christians who are risking their liberty to sound the alarm on a threat of existential proportions. The real crime lies with a government failing to do what’s necessary to safeguard the future of the human race.”

Extinction Rebellion Blockade To Protest Nationality And Borders Bill

The activists locked themselves to each other and to the property’s gates from about 7am on Monday. The protesters, from XR Scotland and XR Glasgow, are calling on the UK government “to end its hostile environment policy towards migrants”. They said the demonstration has been organized in response to home secretary Priti Patel’s Nationality and Borders Bill passing through the House Of Commons.

Environment Extinction Rebellion Immigration Protests

Amazon Deals Take A Hit After Depots Disrupted On Black Friday

The emissions created by Black Friday sales are “phenomenally’ high”. Research from money.co.uk has found that shoppers could emit over 386,243 tonnes of carbon emissions in 2021.

That is the equivalent of 215,778 return flights between London and Sydney, and the same weight as 3,679 blue whales.

In the UK, activists from across the country are taking part, with 13 blockades in Doncaster, Darlington, Newcastle, Manchester, Peterborough, Derby, Coventry, Rugeley, Dartford, Bristol, Tilbury, Milton Keynes and Dunfermline.

These sites account for just over 50 per cent of Amazon deliveries in the UK.

The aim of the protest is to disrupt Amazon’s business on what is one of the biggest shopping days of the year in order to force the global giant into changing its “highly climate-destructive corporate practices”.

Amazon Black Friday climate crisis Extinction Rebellion

Extinction Rebellion Vancouver Breaks Through Media Near-Blackout

Canada – A group of climate activists tied up traffic last night (October 25) on the main road to Vancouver International Airport.

According to Extinction Rebellion, 18 were arrested; that differed from a tweet from Richmond RCMP, which said that 20 were arrested.

Regardless of the numbers, the tactic seems to have worked: Extinction Rebellion Vancouver spokesperson Zain Haq finally received some airtime on CBC Radio One to explain why the group has launched a 14-day campaign of peaceful civil disobedience.

A story by CBC reporter Rafferty Baker respectfully included Haq’s concerns about the climate breakdown. Baker noted Extinction Rebellion Vancouver’s demand for an end to fossil-fuel subsidies.

The group’s “October rebellion” is intended to spark a nationwide discussion about fossil-fuel subsidies.

Canada climate crisis Extinction Rebellion Media

Activists Target Powerful Lobbying Group

Amid a wave of climate protests in Washington, D.C. this week, some campaigners scaled the U.S. Chamber of Commerce office to call out the nation’s largest lobbying group for fueling climate chaos and urge members to cut ties with the business association.

Activists flanked the building’s entrance with a pair of banners that said: “Welcome to the Chamber of Climate Chaos” and “Your Business Costs the Earth.”

Extinction Rebellion D.C. tweeted photos and videos of the action alongside a message for the group’s members: “Do you want to go down in history as contributing to a climate catastrophe that will endanger the lives of millions of people around the world? Or will you stand up for the future, for hope and survival, and leave the Chamber of Commerce?”

Chamber of Commerce climate crisis Extinction Rebellion Washington DC

Extinction Rebellion Activists Plan Two-Week ‘October Rebellion’

Climate protesters are planning a series of protests in Vancouver this month that includes occupying major intersections, bridges, and “shutting down” Vancouver International Airport.

Environmental activist group Extinction Rebellion Canada said it wants a commitment from the provincial and federal governments to end fossil fuel subsidies before the UN Climate Change Conference (COP 26) in Glasgow, which starts Oct. 31.

If this demand isn’t met, Extinction Rebellion plans to initiate what it is calling the October Rebellion, a two-week campaign of mass civil disobedience in Vancouver starting Oct. 16.

“We are going to be arrested in the streets,” said Extinction Rebellion member Brent Eichler. “(Trudeau) is going to face the embarrassment of not just telling world leaders why he has failed on the promises he has made, but why citizens of his own country are sitting on the streets and being arrested because he won’t act.”

Canada climate crisis Direct Action Extinction Rebellion

More Than 500 Arrested As Extinction Rebellion Protests Continue

Police have arrested more than than 500 people during Extinction Rebellion’s protests in London.

The environmental group began their ‘Impossible Rebellion’ action on 23 August. The Metropolitan Police said since the action began, as of 6.30pm on Saturday 4 September they had arrested 508 people. It comes after another wave of demonstrations from Animal Rebellion and Nature Rebellion at Trafalgar Square on Saturday.

The groups ‘stand in solidarity’ with Extinction Rebellion. They met at the London landmark during the afternoon for a “March For Nature”.

Protesters could be seen in colourful costumes. And they held signs such as “The Amazon Rainforest Is At Tipping Point”, “Indigenous Emergency” and “Act Now”

climate crisis Extinction Rebellion Police United Kingdom

Extinction Rebellion Protests: Activists Strip, Glue, And Warn

Activists at the Extinction Rebellion protest have now been freed from the plant pots, onto which they had glued themselves, only to be been placed immediately into handcuffs and taken to a police van.

Others stripped naked in front of a branch of Barclays bank in protest, behind a banner which read: “We are all vulnerable, stop funding fossil fuels”.

Meanwhile, dozens of medical staff, including doctors, surgeons and anesthetists, gathered outside JP Morgan’s headquarters in London calling on the investment bank to divest from fossil fuels on Friday, with a warning that failing to act now would make the planet “uninhabitable”.

climate crisis Environment Extinction Rebellion Extinction Rebellion Protests United Kingdom

Extinction Rebellion Take The Streets

Several thousand people gathered in Trafalgar Square on the 230th anniversary of the Haitian Revolution for the beginning of Extinction Rebellion’s two-week “Impossible Rebellion”, which is seeking to make “the politically impossible inevitable”.

XR have two weeks of marches, occupations and talks planned across the country for the next two weeks, to demand that governments take serious action to tackle the climate crisis. The main demand of this latest rebellion is to stop all new fossil fuel investment immediately.

Protesters in Trafalgar Square waved XR flags and chanted “Extinction Rebellion” in between speeches from various XR activists. Speakers spoke about the need to end investment in fossil fuels, an industry which accounts for almost 90% of all emissions, and many noted the disproportionate effect the climate crisis is having and will continue to have on poorer countries, which often are countries which have been devastated by colonialism.

climate crisis Extinction Rebellion Extinction Rebellion Protests Fossil Fuels United Kingdom

Extinction Rebellion Launch Plans For UK Rebellion

To coincide with the release of the 6th Assessment Report from the IPCC this morning, Extinction Rebellion UK has launched plans for 2 weeks of civil disobedience in London, beginning Monday 23 August. Because the future we fear is already here and there’s nothing left to do now but act.

On impacts, the IPCC confirms what has become obvious: from heatwaves, to flooding, to droughts, every region on Earth is experiencing unprecedented weather extremes because of the CO2-jacked climate. Tropical cyclones are also intensifying and moving north. The IPCC also confirms that the land and oceans are on course to be – if they aren’t already – a net source of carbon emissions even in the lowest possible emissions scenario. The Earth’s carbon drawdown ability which has bailed us out for so long is hugely weakened.

climate crisis Extinction Rebellion Extinction Rebellion Protests IPCC United Kingdom

Scientists disrupt opening day of Shell-sponsored ‘Our Future Planet’

At 10:30 AM on Wednesday 19th May, a group of scientists from Extinction Rebellion locked themselves to a mechanical tree in the Science Museum, the centerpiece of the Shell sponsored Our Future Planet exhibition. The group, who used bicycle cables and D-locks to lock themselves inside the exhibit on the opening day, explained that the decision by the Science Museum Group to continue to accept Shell sponsorship gives legitimacy to the fossil fuel giant’s planetary destruction. The group took great care not to damage the exhibit and to respect safety regulations.

climate crisis Extinction Rebellion Protests Shell Oil

Ditch Shell

As a community of scientists working across many different disciplines, we are passionate about passing on the wonders of science to future generations. Many of us were inspired as children by eye-opening experiences at the Science Museum. We truly believe it is world-class. One of the most significant and inclusive aspects is that free entry allows access to anyone. In short, we love the Science Museum.

After a year of a pandemic and with two major COP summits on the horizon, we are excited to see the museum reopen with a landmark exhibition on the climate emergency and what to do about it. But it is with great disappointment that we see the museum would allow its reputation to be tarnished by allowing this exhibit to be sponsored by Royal Dutch Shell.

climate crisis Extinction Rebellion Scotland Shell Oil

Courts Can No Longer Protect Companies Over Climate Flak

United Kingdom – Last month, six people stood trial in Southwark Crown Court, charged with causing criminal damage to Shell’s London headquarters on April 15, 2019. The trial received little coverage at the time: although all six pleaded not guilty, it appeared to be an open and shut case. That the building was damaged was not in doubt; nor was the identity of the perpetrators.

But then, surprisingly, all six Extinction Rebellion activists were acquitted. This verdict deserves attention as it raises big questions about how far the law can protect companies that do not take real action to deal with the climate emergency.

The defendants were instructed by Judge Gregory Perrins that they could enter as evidence only who they were, what they had done and a brief explanation why.

climate crisis Corporate Accountability Extinction Rebellion Legal System

Drivers Forced To Drive Around Extinction Rebellion Protesters

Swansea, Wales – Extinction Rebellion protesters across Swansea stopped traffic across the city after staging a sit down protest on busy roads.

The 30 minute protest, took place on Swansea’s High Street, Gower Road in Upper Killay and Sketty Road in Uplands on Saturday morning.

Video footage from Upper Killay shows a protester peacefully sitting in the road wearing a sign that read: “I’m terrified that there is nothing to live for because of the climate crisis”.

The protest led to queues of traffic forcing cars to drive around the protester.

In the video, one business owner can be heard asking the man to move.

“I’ve got a business to run and you’re blocking the road,” he said, before walking away.

Blockade climate crisis Extinction Rebellion Wales

Extinction Rebellion Activists Break Windows At Barclays’ London HQ

Police have arrested a group of environmental activists who smashed the windows of Barclays’ London headquarters on Wednesday to protest against the bank’s “continued investments in activities that directly contribute to the climate and ecological emergency”.

Seven members from the Extinction Rebellion group were detained following the protest outside the bank’s Canary Wharf office, after they pasted the message “In Case of Climate Emergency Break Glass” on the front of the building.

The protesters, wearing patches on their clothes that read “Better broken windows than broken promises”, accuse Barclays of investing too much in fossil fuels.

Sophie Cowen, a 30-year-old campaigner from London, said: “You may dislike our action today but I ask you to compare a crack in a window to funding wildfires and flooded homes.”

Big Banks climate crisis Extinction Rebellion London

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